


Bad Moon Rising

by joidianne4eva



Category: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Genre: Gore, M/M, Strong Language, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-23 14:15:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joidianne4eva/pseuds/joidianne4eva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>
    <b>Be wary not of the wolf outside your door but of the one lurking beneath your skin. </b>
  </i>
</p>
<p>The plan had been simple, confront the witches, assess the situation and if need be, shoot the witches between the eyes. </p>
<p>It hadn’t been quite as simple when he was nearly mauled by the thing that they’d locked up in their attic but Hansel was really good at rolling with the punches…or bites as it were. </p>
<p>What he hadn’t planned on was sticking around long enough to be captured after he managed to cut the creature’s head off.</p>
<p>He definitely hadn’t planned to wake up chained in the very attic where he’d almost had his throat ripped out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Moon Rising

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to Seraphina_snape for the [gorgeous artwork](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3771679)

Hansel’s mind was a riot of sounds, smells and the lingering ache of pain that seemed to be rooted in the spot on his shoulder that he just couldn’t quite seem to reach.

The plan had been simple, confront the witches, assess the situation and if need be, shoot the witches between the eyes.

It hadn’t been quite as simple when he was nearly mauled by the thing that they’d locked up in their attic but Hansel was really good at rolling with the punches…or bites as it were.

What he hadn’t planned on was sticking around long enough to be captured after he managed to cut the creature’s head off.

He definitely hadn’t planned to wake up chained in the very attic where he’d almost had his throat ripped out.

Yanking on the chains hard enough to make them ring, Hansel took in his surroundings.

Waking up had been a chore. The scent of blood still clogged his nostrils but beneath that there was another acidic scent that his brain was telling him was magic and while Hansel had gotten better at accepting the use of magic around him, after learning of his and Gretel’s parentage…he wasn’t exactly a fan.

The door to the attic slid open and Hansel tensed as a woman’s head appeared through the slot.

Her dark eyes flickered over him and Hansel held himself completely still as she climbed up through the hole in the floor and into the room.

The fact that the bitch’s face was normal could only mean that she was another Grand Witch and honestly Hansel was blaming Gretel for this…he wasn’t sure how it was his sister’s fault but he was still going to blame her.

“I did not think it would come to this,” the witch muttered, her heavily accented voice ringing in the silence while her lips tipped up into a smirk. She took a step closer, her skirts swirling around her legs and the motion of the fabric caught and held Hansel’s attention until the woman started speaking again. “The men that came after us, none of them has ever managed to injure the beast…much less kill it.”

“Yeah, well Gretel’s always telling me I’m special,” Hansel shot back and the woman chuckled. It was a husky sound that seemed to reverberate through his body and Hansel’s eyes narrowed as she squatted down mere feet away from him.

“You don’t feel it yet, do you? You do not feel the beast taking hold of your mind and spreading through your blood until it changes you into something that not even your sister could love,” she taunted and Hansel’s lips ticked up into a smirk.

“You don’t know a lot about my sister. You should see the company she keeps nowadays,” he retorted, twisting his hands in the chains just to make them jangle and the woman’s eyes darted to them as she stood said that she wasn’t as confident as she was trying to appear.

Hansel cocked his head to the side and eyed her, his nostrils flaring as the scent of salt and something bitter caught his attention.

“Whatever that thing did to me, you’d better hope it’s fixable because if Gretel doesn’t gut you like a fish, lady, believe me, I _will_.”

The words made the woman jerk before she shot him a glare and spun on her heels, vanishing back through the attic door without another word.

Hansel inhaled slowly, his tongue flickering out to catch a taste of the blood still lingering from his split lip.

Outside the walls of his prison, the sun started its descent as darkness crept across the land.

*O*

Hansel exhaled slowly as he twisted his hands in the cuffs. He could feel the skin of his wrists splitting beneath the metal and he bared his teeth as he tugged harder, rending skin from flesh as he curled his fingers together and yanked.

The blood made a slick sound as his right hand slid free and Hansel shook himself, glancing at the bloody mess of his wrist before turning his attention to the other cuff.

There was something wrong but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was…or to be more precise he couldn’t understand what could be wrong other than the fact that he was chained up and apparently about to turn into a beast, if the witch was to be believed.

He’d just managed to get the other hand free when something reared to life in his head and Hansel’s entire body froze, muscles locking in place as he jerked in the chains that still held his feet captive.

He could feel the blood pounding at his temples, could feel the sweat beading his skin and the whistle of the wind creeping through the cracks in the floor was as loud as a banshee screaming in his ears.

Beneath his feet he could hear other heartbeats, three of which were fluttering like a hummingbird’s wings whereas the other three were slow and steady as they approached from the east.

There were voices too; one of them so familiar that it made his bones ache and he opened his mouth to call out but what escaped his mouth wasn’t words.

The scream tore at his throat, gnawing at the fragile human construct that tried to retain it as it grew, morphing into something that made Hansel’s ears feel like they were bleeding but he couldn’t stop it.

His body jerked again and he slammed against the floor, the chair, that he’d been seated on, skidding across the room with the force of his actions.

Curling in on himself Hansel tried to breathe through the pain and it worked for a moment…until he started to bleed.

Blood poured from his mouth and it took his mind a second to catch up with the pain that already had his body writhing but when it did the howl that rent the air was one of his own design.

Gagging, Hansel heaved as he forced himself onto his hands and knees.

Something small hit the floor and Hansel scrabbled backwards when he realized that it was a tooth. His hands came up to cover his mouth but another gush of blood had him choking and this time the torrent carried even more teeth.

The arm that he was bracing on gave way as the bones snapped; sending him crashing to the floor but Hansel barely noticed that as the hand that was still working came up to claw at his face where it felt like someone had taken a hot poker to his eyes.

The skin beneath his fingers bulged and Hansel’s stomach heaved as something wet pressed against the palm of his hand. The world around him faded out of focus as he shifted and then he was holding something, something small and wet.

The vision from his left eye was blurry but his right…his right was working well enough for him to see the thing in his palm.

Bile clawed at Hansel’s throat as he stared at it and then the word went black as the single eye rolled from his limp palm.

*O*

It was tracking them.

Gretel didn’t have enough trust in the witch’s dying words to believe that the thing following them was truly her brother and she would continue not believing until she got the chance to look the beast in the eye.

What she did believe was that whatever the thing was, it was dangerous, she could feel it in the thrum of the night around them.

Every other predator had gone to ground and Gretel wasn’t foolish enough to think that that was mere coincidence.

The howls had died out, replaced by an eerie silence that was only shattered by the sound of their footsteps and breathing. The sweat on Gretel’s arms and the back of her neck prickled as the cool night air gusted across her skin.

Holding up a single fist she stopped and Ben and Edward froze as well, twisting so that they were back to back.

“Hansel, you probably can’t understand a word I’m saying even if you are my brother but I’m going to guess that no one ever tried to talk to you,” Gretel called out and for a moment nothing but silence greeted her ears.

Then there was a soft huff from somewhere to her left. It sounded like it was coming from the trees above their heads but Gretel didn’t move, didn’t aim her gun even though her instincts were screaming at her.

The silence stretched on for a long moment and then the thing dropped from the trees, crouching as it hit the ground and Gretel’s fingers tightened on her gun as the beast straightened.

It was big.

That was the first thought that flickered through her mind as she took in the thing that was supposed to be her brother yet there was nothing human about the creature…except the intelligence in its eyes.

“Hansel?”

Gretel’s voice was barely a whisper now but the way the thing’s ears swivelled towards her said that it… _he_ had heard her loud and clear.

Gretel took a step forward and he snarled, baring a mouthful of sharp teeth as his nostrils flared but he wasn’t attacking…he wasn’t attacking and Gretel was going to hang onto the hope that he wouldn’t attack until she was forced to do otherwise.

Holding her gun loosely in her left hand Gretel spread her arms, ignoring Edward’s grunt of displeasure as she put herself on display.

The creature took another step forward, emerging from the shadows and the full moon glinted on the fur that covered its massive frame.

Its ears pressed back against the lupine curve of its head as its nostrils flared, then it huffed, shaking its head.

“Hansel, it’s me, Gretel,” she tried again and this time she could almost see her words getting through to the beast that her brother had become.

It took a step forward and then it _lunged_ and it was only Gretel’s well-honed reflexes that had her grabbing Ben as she flung herself to the ground as the thing sailed over their heads.

Scrambling to her feet, Gretel aimed at the beast, at her _brother_ when he lumbered to his feet, clawed hands hanging loose as he growled low in his throat but his eyes weren’t focused on her and Gretel stepped to the side, blocking Ben from his gaze even as the creature dropped into a crouch.

Tightening her grip on her gun Gretel gritted her teeth, “Don’t make me do this,” she whispered but the creature just snarled as he pawed at the ground.

Swallowing Gretel stared at the beast, “Ben, on the count of three, I want you and Edward to run,” she ordered.

“Okay,” Ben whispered as Edward huffed and the thing that Hansel had become snarled at the sound of Ben’s voice, dancing to the side as it tried to get around the barricade that Gretel and Edward had made with their bodies.

Gretel had no idea why Hansel was targeting Ben but she knew that her brother would never forgive himself if he hurt their protégé.

“One,” Gretel murmured as she cocked the gun, shifting her aim from Hansel’s massive chest to his furred legs.

“Two.”

Hansel straightened, baring his teeth like he knew what she was planning.

“Three!” Gretel shouted and she didn’t have to turn to know that Ben had made a break for it, the way that Hansel snapped forward was answer enough and that was when Gretel fired.

The sound of her gun didn’t block out Hansel’s roar of pain and anger but Gretel didn’t stop to see how injured he was, no matter how much she wanted to.

Racing after Ben and Edward, she ducked under a branch as the roar changed, deepening into a howl that made her blood run cold.

“Head for the cabin!” she shouted as she swerved, changing direction mid-step and she wasn’t surprised when Ben easily kept pace with her, his long legs eating up the distance like a deer.

Behind her there was another howl of fury as the sound of a collision echoed through the forest and Gretel could only guess that with his larger body Hansel hadn’t quite managed to keep up with them like he used to be able to.

The thought made her lips curl into a smirk before she re-focused on her own feet because the last thing she needed was to trip over some stray bush.

The cottage loomed before them and Gretel spun, as Edward and Ben thundered past her, firing twice into the dark swell of the trees and the muted snarl that followed the gunshots told her that she’d at least winged Hansel and hopefully that would be enough to keep him at bay.

Diving through the open door, she barely had the chance to meet the beast’s amber eyes as it came charging at her before the door was slammed shut.

The wood rattled as she scrambled to her feet but Edward was already there, bracing his large shoulders against it, providing support to its frame.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Ben whispered as he stumbled backwards, almost tripping over the bodies of the dead witches.

Gretel pushed herself to her feet as she watched the door but everything was silent.

Glancing at the grand witch’s body Gretel licked her lips while she eyed the jagged gap where the bitch’s throat had been.

It looked like the woman had been honest after all.

“He was after me, wasn’t he? I knew he didn’t like me,” Ben muttered as he paced and Gretel almost rolled her eyes at him…almost because she couldn’t exactly blame the man for thinking that. Hansel’s seduction techniques had never been as bad as the ones she’d seen him try to use on Ben so she wasn’t exactly surprised that the young hunter thought Hansel disliked him.

Reloading her gun with the tranquilizers that they’d used on previous hunts, Gretel glanced at Edward who just grunted at her.

If her brother’s previous feelings for Ben were taken into account, it didn’t explain why Hansel had gone after Ben now.

Gretel had seen recognition flicker in her brother’s eyes before he attacked and that wasn’t adding up at all.

Outside something snapped and then the single window of the cabin _exploded_.

A large clawed arm reached into the room before any of them could react, hooking around Ben’s neck and the young hunter yelped, dropping his gun as he struggled to get himself free.

Edward was moving before Gretel could react, roaring as he charged Hansel who was now halfway through the window, but Hansel swatted Edward away like he was an annoying fly, sending the troll sailing through the air before his eyes locked on Gretel.

Gretel gritted her teeth as she took aim and fired, then fired again and again.

Hansel’s body jerked with each hit and he snarled at her as he tried to pull himself back out of the cabin but the potions were quick acting and potent and all he truly managed to do was to twist himself around before his limbs went limp.

It wasn’t until Ben scrambled away that Grete realized that Hansel’s actions had put the bulk of his body between her gun and the young hunter.

Helping Ben to his feet, Gretel stared at the creature her brother had become.

She was starting to think that witch hadn’t been so honest after all.

*O*

“You can’t keep me in here forever, Gretel,” Hansel growled as he watched his sister pack her bags. He was as close to the bars of the cage that they’d stuck him in as he could be without burning himself on the silver bars.

“It’s not going to be forever, just until we figure out how to break this curse,” Gretel replied, not even glancing up despite the fact that Hansel was so close that all he’d need to do was reach out and he could probably grab her. He wouldn’t do it though and Gretel knew that. Just the thought of harming his sister made something in his mind curl in on itself.

Gretel smelled _right_ , the familiar scent of gunpowder and oil clinging to her skin had Hansel’s nostrils flaring as he tried to catch more of the scent.

She smelled like home and hearth, like family and Hansel would never hurt family…everyone else though….

“What if they can’t break it? It’s not like one of them put some sort of spell on me, I was bitten by that ugly son of a bitch that they kept caged up and you know that,” Hansel pointed out as he paced.

He could still remember the feeling of teeth sinking into his shoulder, ripping flesh from bones as the creature thrashed him about like a rag doll.

He still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to cut its throat but he had and apparently blessed weapons worked on beasts as well as it did witches.

“I’d rather hear that from them and if they don’t have the cure one of the other witches in this area might. They knew what you were and how to hurt you…”

“You mean they knew what they’d let me become and they tried to kill me to save their lives,” Hansel cut in and that made Gretel’s head snap up.

“You’re not dangerous…”

“I ripped her throat out with my teeth. I almost killed Edward trying to get at Ben. The only person who I’m not a danger to is you and how long do you think that’ll fucking last?”

Gretel took a step closer to the bars and Hansel retreated even as his sister reached for him through the slots.

“Hansel….”

“Promise me, that if I hurt you, you’ll put me down.”

Gretel shook her head, “You won’t….”

“Promise me!” Hansel snarled and the dual tone made Gretel start but she didn’t pull back. Instead that cold, bland look, that Hansel was so familiar with, settled over her face.

“You won’t hurt me or anyone that matters. You’re locked in there and the only person who’ll have the key is Ben,” her lips ticked up into a smirk. “And I don’t see him letting you out anytime soon.”

Hansel snorted before reaching forward and clasping her hand in his own. “At least you’re right about something. The kid’s pissed scared of me like this…he won’t even come down here.”

Gretel’s smirk shifted into something more knowing that grated on Hansel’s nerves even as she pulled away. “I don’t think it’s fear that’s keeping Ben up there.”

Hansel frowned at her, “You do remember that I attacked him?”

Gretel just hummed beneath her breath as she hefted her bag over her shoulder. “Just stay as calm as you can, we’ll be back as soon as we find something.”

“Stay safe,” Hansel called after her as she started to walk away.

Gretel paused and glance back at him, “I will as long as you stay calm.”

“Can’t make any promises,” Hansel replied and the look that Gretel shot him, before she headed up the stairs, said she hadn’t expected anything more than that. No one knew their flaws better than they did and hiding it behind bluster wasn’t going to help, not this time around.

*O*

Gretel had only been gone for a few minutes when Hansel got that itching feeling to move. It sent him from the cot, to his feet. Pacing past the silver bars that kept him back Hansel snarled, a growl slithering its way into his breath as his mind focused on the only scent left behind in the house.

“Ben, I know you can hear me,” he called, flinching slightly at the prickling sensation crawling up his spine. There was no response from above but the thundering that Hansel could hear said that Ben had heard him just fine. It had taken him a while to realize that the drumbeats in his head weren’t actually just in his head…assigning each heartbeat to the correct person hadn’t taken half as long.

Baring his teeth when the silence stretch onwards, Hansel approached the bars, his eyes glued to the hatch that led below. “Come on, kid, I promise I won’t try to kill you. It’s not like I can get out of here and I know you’re not going to just give me the key…”

There was a long moment of silence before Ben’s head appeared through the hatch.

The younger man’s eyes darted around the empty space before they settled on Hansel’s cage. “What do you want?” he asked softly and the acidic scent that wafted down towards him made Hansel wrinkle his nose and take a step back even as his mind tried to categorize the smell.

Holding out his hands, Hansel tried for his least threatening smile. “I just want to talk; it’s boring as hell up here.”

Ben’s brows furrowed at that. “Gretel said you’d be fine until she got back,” he pointed out and Hansel snorted because trust his sister to always be a step ahead of him when he didn’t even know what he’d do himself. He had no clue why he wanted Ben up there just like he couldn’t remember why Ben had been the only one of their group that he’d gone after when he’d changed into that _thing_. But just because he didn’t understand his actions, didn’t mean he was going to back off.

“Yeah, well, she probably thought she’d be back by now,” he offered up, tongue flickering out to wet his lips when Ben’s gaze skittered over him. “If you keep me company I’ll even tell you about one of the witches you don’t have in that book of yours.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed suspiciously but Hansel could see the way that he was already leaning towards the hatch.

“Don’t try anything,” Ben warned and Hansel cocked his head, watching silently as the man climbed up the stairs.

The second that Ben was fully in the room, the prickling sensation from before vanished as some of the tension bled from Hansel’s muscles. His gaze scanned Ben’s frame but other than the bruise around Ben’s neck where _the thing_ , because it wasn’t him, hadn’t been him, had grabbed Ben, he seemed fine.

The sight of the bruise had saliva pooling in Hansel’s mouth and he had to shake his head when he started picturing more of his marks on Ben’s pale skin because Ben was family and he couldn’t be thinking like that about family. He’d been able to control himself before he’d been cursed and he wasn’t going to let the thing living beneath his skin change that.

“You said you were going to tell me about the witches,” Ben prompted and Hansel watched the curve of the boy’s shoulders as he tried to hunch in on himself. His gaze lingered on the expanse of skin that started at Ben’s open collar and he found himself wondering what it would feel like to press his tongue there, to follow the elegant yet fragile of skin up to Ben’s lips. He’d bet that the kid would moan so damn prettily if he sunk his teeth into protrusion of Ben’s collarbone, he’d probably squirm and beg just from Hansel marking him up….

“Hansel?”

Hansel started as Ben’s voice cut into his thoughts. Blinking slowly, he forced himself to exhale before refocusing on the young hunter who was now watching him warily.

“Sorry got distracted,” he offered up, biting back the ‘by your skin’, that he knew would just send Ben scuttling back out of reach.

His mind shifted back to the memory of several of their hunts before he settled on one that seemed harmless enough. Rolling his shoulders he made his way back to the single chair in his cage. He felt Ben’s eyes on his back the entire time but when he sat down the other man was staring at the floor and Hansel smirked even as the alien presence, in his head, flicked the chosen memory out of the way and instead delved deeper until it found the one it wanted.

“It wasn’t something we were getting paid for, we just happened to come across the witch. She wasn’t really that powerful, the only thing that had been keeping her alive was her defensive spell. She could turn herself into anything that the hunter desired, which more often than not was another person…at least I’m fucking hoping it was because let me tell you she was ugly as hell. I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if somebody had been craving a pie and decided to take a bite out of her…” he muttered and Ben snorted.

“How ugly?” he queried and Hansel grinned at him, he couldn’t not as he watched the confidence seep back into Ben’s frame.

“Let’s just say that she had tentacles growing from places that tentacles had no business growing,” Hansel responded, shuddering at the image of the witch that his mind conjured up. “So like I was saying, not much power but a whole heap of cunning, she’d coax the hunter in under the guise of being their ‘long lost love’ or their flavour of the week and then she’d kill them. Thing is she wasn’t expecting two hunters this time around and while Gretel and I share a lot of tastes I tend to like the brunettes more than blondes. So…”

“Wait, Gretel likes women?” Ben spluttered and Hansel cocked a brow at the kid’s incredulous tone.

He didn’t know why he was surprised, after all Ben had grown up in a village that was willing to burn a woman based on hearsay and the word of a corrupt Sherriff. Hansel was fairly certain that the topic of sexuality was probably just as taboo.

“Sometimes,” Hansel responded, “But this time she wanted a guy…”

“But you just said…” Ben trailed off with a frown. “I mean, it kind of sounds like you were looking for the same thing just different hair colour which is really discriminatory because what does hair colour have to do with anything?”

“Ben!” Hansel cut in before the man could start on a rant. “We _were_ looking for the same thing and I don’t know about you but I’ve always had more fun with darker haired people.”

“So, you were looking for a man?” Ben whispered and Hansel snorted.

“Have you got a problem with that?” he shot back just to see the way that Ben flushed.

“No! I never said…I just didn’t expect it, is all,” he murmured.

“I love women but have you ever fucked another man?” Hansel leaned forward, eyes tracking Ben’s every move as the prickling sensation spread to his hands and throat. Ben shook his head and Hansel grinned. “You’ve got to be careful with most women but men? They’re built to take it, you could press them down and ride them into the mattress and most of them would just beg you for more. I like my men tall, broad shouldered, built to take a fucking because I don’t like to hold back…” Hansel was on his feet now but Ben didn’t even notice, he couldn’t, not with the way that his eyes were scrunched shut like he could keep Hansel’s voice out that way.

“I bet you know all about that, right, Ben?” the discordant hum was back in Hansel’s voice and Ben slumped down in his seat, eyes still closed but his legs were spread just enough for Hansel to see the bulge at the front of his pants. “I bet you know what it feels like to want to beg for more and to beg for your lover to stop because you don’t know what you fucking want.”

Hansel was almost at the bars now and the heat from the silver made the hairs on his arms stand on end but he couldn’t focus on that, not when Ben was panting like he couldn’t work out how to breathe properly as the scent of musk and _want_ clouded the air between them.

“I could give you that, Ben. Fuck you until you don’t know up from down, I’d make you beg for my cock and you’d like it, wouldn’t you?”

Ben’s lips were moving like he was trying to say something and Hansel could taste his surrender on his tongue and then…the doors above their head slammed and Ben started, scrabbling from his seat as he blinked in confusion.

Hansel had to grit his teeth to keep back the snarl of disappointment that was lodged in his chest. “You should probably go see how the hunt went,” he coaxed and Ben nodded, his movements still slow and addled like he was in a daze.

Hansel retreated to the dark of his cell as he watched Ben vanish down the stairs.

Suddenly he wasn’t so confused about why he’d gone after Ben that night.

*O*

Hansel could hear them speaking upstairs, Gretel’s softer, calmer, tone threading through Ben’s panicked explanations and Edward’s low rumbles. He could hear them but he couldn’t concentrate on anything they were saying.

His skin felt cold, like Ben had leeched the heat from the room when he’d left and Hansel could feel the thing in his head shifting with every breath he took, expanding and spreading like oil over water.

A part of him knew that he needed to call Gretel, to get her up there before he lost too much of himself but the presence was like a siren’s song as it spread through his body and Hansel found himself wondering why he’d ever been afraid of it.

The sharp scent of iron caught his nose and he tracked it to the edge of his cage, nostrils flaring as he reached out absentmindedly towards the bars only to yank his hand back with a sharp hiss as the hair on his arms singed when he got too close to the silver.

The voices had stopped and Hansel could hear Gretel’s heartbeat moving closer.

Retreating from the bars Hansel watched as she climbed into the room, a huge tome under one arm.

Cocking a brow, Hansel let his gaze flicker over her and he huffed when he couldn’t find or smell any injuries. He didn’t ask himself how he thought he _could_ smell an injury because he knew that he could just like he knew that the scent of blood coating Gretel’s skin wasn’t her own.

“Thought you were looking for a cure not light reading,” he muttered as Gretel dropped the book onto the single table in the room, sending plumes of dust spiralling through the air.

“What? I can’t have both?” Gretel shot back with a small smile. “The witches I got this from were so generous that I just had to accept their gift.”

“Before or after you pried it from their cold, dead fingers?” Hansel queried, watching as Gretel flipped the pages of the book.

“Are you calling me a thief, Hansel?”

“I’ve called you worse for less.”

Gretel’s lips tipped up into a smirk even as her eyes scanned the pages of the book.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to get Ben up here,” she commented lightly and a stranger would have probably taken her tone to be one of idle interest but Hansel knew his sister and even without his _added bits_ he’d still have been able to hear the sharpness hidden beneath her words.

“You should probably remember that I’m still sitting in this cage which means I didn’t do a damn thing to the kid.”

“Is that why he looks like he’s seen a ghost?” Gretel asked, her brows furrowing as she flipped the page.

“Better a ghost than a witch,” Hansel retorted.

That made Gretel’s head snap up and when she glanced his way, her eyes were shrewd and knowing. “Whatever you’re doing, be careful. Ben’s not as new to hunting as he was…”

Hansel could feel the growl clawing at his throat but he locked it back as he paced just out of reach of the influence of the bars.

“Are you warning me off your little virgin because let me tell you, if I ever do something to him it’s going to be something that he’s begged for,” he whispered.

Gretel crossed her arms in front of her chest; her eyes tracking him as he moved and when she smiled Hansel bared his teeth at her.

“It’s good to know that the book wasn’t wrong…anger does affect your control,” she mused and that stopped Hansel in his tracks.

“What?”

“The thing that you’re becoming, the witches call it a man-wolf, part of each but not fully either. The curse is passed on through infection and apparently if you hadn’t killed the other one, it would have been able to control you, like the witches were controlling Edward,” Gretel explained.

“Does it mention a cure?”

Gretel shook her head, “Not yet…” she admitted, hurrying on when Hansel whirled away from her. “But the one that you saw it was what they called feral…lost to its wolf side. These things look human, like white witches. The only differences they have are enhanced senses and strength until the night of the full moon when they change,” she added, stepping closer to the bars. “This isn’t a death sentence, Hansel.”

“Says the person not locked in the cage,” Hansel retorted sharply and Gretel fell silent because there wasn’t a damn thing she could say to that.

*O*

Hansel didn’t get much sleep that night and he woke with the taste of blood in mouth and his heart pounding in his chest. His bones felt stiff and achy, like he’d gone three rounds with a coven of witches and he snarled at the light from the single bulb that hung in the centre of the attic.

All in all, his mood wasn’t a good one and he wasn’t exactly surprised. His anger had been building with each flip of the page that Gretel took and by the time she’d given up and tried to discuss the possibility of another hunt he hadn’t been able to respond with anything other than a few grunts because he knew that any words he used would’ve just pissed them both off and that was the last thing either of them needed.

He’d had mornings like this before, mornings when the glimmers of his childhood memories chased him into the waking world alongside the memory of Gretel’s battered face. He’d promised his sister that he’d protect her and he’d failed, he’d even failed at protecting himself and now the person that she’d probably need the most protection from was him.

Shaking his head, Hansel snorted. He was usually able to get his moods in check after some food and training but that wouldn’t work now…the bare strip on his wrist where his timer usually sat was a stark reminder that nothing was the same anymore and it was going to take more than some food to fix that especially not when he could smell Ben approaching the hatch.

The man’s scent was woven through with bright sparks that made Hansel’s nose wrinkle even as he inhaled and it didn’t take him long to get a visual confirmation of Ben’s anger.

“What did you do to me?” the young hunter hissed, his eyes narrowed into slits and Hansel couldn’t help the way that his tongue flickered out to wet his own lips. He could almost taste Ben’s fury and it had his hackles rising even as lust stirred deep in his stomach, the throbbing beat of his arousal matching the sound of Ben’s heart.

“What _did_ I do to you, kid?” he asked, keeping just the right amount of insolence and disinterest in his voice to make Ben’s heart kick up a beat.

“You did something to my head!” Ben spat as he tangled his fingers in his hair, pulling at the dark strands in a way that made Hansel’s fingers itch with the need to copy him. “Those things you said, I don’t…that’s not me. How I reacted to you, that wasn’t normal!”

“I don’t know who you’ve been dancing with but that’s a pretty normal reaction to have when you want to fuck,” Hansel chuckled as he paced behind the bars. “At least you didn’t beg but you weren’t really far off from that either, were you?”

“Fuck you!” Ben snarled as he took a step closer and Hansel stilled, tracking the way that Ben’s chest was heaving. “You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to toy with me like this because it’s not going to work. I’m not giving you the keys.”

Hansel grimaced as a sharp sensation radiated throughout his gums and when he pressed his tongue to his teeth a burst of blood flooded his mouth.

Swallowing quickly he grinned, watching the way that Ben’s eyes dropped to his mouth and what he was sure were his bloody teeth.

“You think I want the key? The key you’ve never come up those stairs with?” Hansel started, his tongue glossing over his teeth as it tried to recapture the iron taste of his own blood. “At first when you were travelling with us, I was sure that Gretel was the one who you were after. Hell, just the way you lit up whenever she smiled at you was enough confirmation of that, but ever since that thing bit me I could smell you,” he paused here, taking in the flush of Ben’s face and neck as the hunter gaped at him. “You always smell so fucking pure, like snow that’s never been stepped on but under all of that, there’s this spice and musk that ebbs and flows. You never smelled like that around Gretel, when you’re alone down there, but around me? Around me, you smell like a bitch in heat but you can deny it. Go ahead and tell me I’m wrong, tell me you don’t want me to fuck you, hold you down and cover you in my scent until everyone out there knows who you belong to….”

Ben’s mouth opened and shut like he couldn’t find the right words and Hansel stepped closer to the bars. He could feel the muscles in his face shifting into something else, something _strange_ and when he reached out for the bars, wrapping his fingers around them despite the fire that raged along his skin upon contact, his nails were dark and curved, like the talons of a bird of prey…or the claws of a wolf.

“Tell me that the reason you spread your legs for me yesterday was only because I’m turning into this _thing_. Come on, kid, lie to me. Fucking say it!” he snarled and Ben shivered but he didn’t say a word. “You can’t can you?” he whispered, his voice dropping into that dual toned resonance that he wasn’t fully aware of, “See, you can lie to yourself but you can’t lie to me. Your body can’t lie to me. I can smell it on you; I can hear it in your heartbeat. You want me. You want this and there isn’t a damn thing you can tell yourself that can change that. So you can go back down there, you can pretend none of this ever happened but you can’t run from it, you can’t run from me…” Hansel warned, watching as Ben took a stumbling step back and then another. Smiling he let go of the bars, pausing to watch as his burnt skin healed before he glanced back at Ben. “Run,” he whispered and the kid was off like a shot.

*O*

Gretel came back from her hunt with a busted lip and another book but there was also a sharp smile on her face so Hansel knew things hadn’t gone too poorly.

When Ben followed his sister up the stairs Hansel had to fight not to react to the younger man’s presence.

He’d spent the time alone thinking over the things he’d said to the other hunter and while he regretted the way that he’d approached the situation, he didn’t regret telling Ben the truth. He didn’t know if he would’ve gotten the push to admit the truth to Ben if it hadn’t been for the curse but at least it was all out there now and even if they managed to get him cured, Ben would know how he really felt.

He didn’t expect Ben to come to him though…not after the way he’d handled things but at least he wouldn’t be hiding anything from the younger man anymore.

Dragging his mind away from that, Hansel refocused on his sister.

“How’s the reading going? Found anything that can help without you having to slit my throat or keep me caged up?”

Gretel shot him a look before smirking, “As a matter of fact I have,” she responded, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair as Ben pulled the book towards him and Hansel bit his lip as he watched the younger man curve his body around the tome, putting the length of his neck on display as he moved. “You need an anchor,” Gretel continued, cutting into his thoughts.

“Do I look like a fucking ship to you?” Hansel snorted as he paced along the length of his cage. “You know that it’s getting worse, you’re not stupid. Today I even managed to get a couple of my _attributes_ out in the open and it’s not even close to the full moon. How soon before I end up attacking someone?” Hansel inquired as he tracked the way that Ben’s muscles tensed at the question because he already _had_ attacked someone hadn’t he? Physical or not, he’d gone after Ben again and he doubted that it would be the last time.

“Which is why you need an anchor and, before you say something stupid, an anchor can be a person or thing, so shut up and listen,” Gretel cut in, her eyes narrowing at him until Hansel spread his hands in supplication. “The witches found out that if they controlled the wolf-man’s anchor, they controlled him or her. Apparently they form some sort of a bond with their anchor and it’s the bond that keeps them in check.”

“And how would we find this mystical anchor?” Hansel shot back because he didn’t believe a word of it for a second. The thing that had attacked him in the witch’s cottage had been the furthest thing from human that he could imagine, other than Edward, and hell, even the big guy looked human compared to the slobbering jaws and wall of muscle and teeth that Hansel had run afoul of.

Gretel pursed her lips but didn’t respond and there was something in her expression that had Hansel pacing again.

“Gretel,” he growled and this time Gretel actually met his eyes.

“I don’t think that’s going to be a problem,” she responded finally and Hansel’s brows furrowed because Gretel knew something but whatever it was apparently didn’t sit well with her and Hansel knew that if he pushed she’d just clamp down on the information.

Shaking his head, he let his gaze flicker back to Ben. “Have you found out anything else about this thing?” he asked, his voice softer than he’d meant for it to be and when he glanced back at Gretel there was a speculative look in her eyes.

“Like what?” she prompted.

“Any other abilities?”

Gretel frowned at him and Hansel hurried on. “Can they control people, other than the ones they’ve bitten?”

Ben’s head snapped up at that and the scent of his wariness flooded the room, sending Hansel wheeling away from the bars as he pawed at his nose, trying ineffectively to block out the scent even as it sent goose bumps dancing to life across his skin.

Thankfully Gretel’s attention was on him and she didn’t get to see the open terror on their protégé’s face.

“There’s nothing like that in any of the books. As far as I could gather, their anchor’s actually the one with the power at least when the anchor’s an actual person,” she shrugged when Hansel inclined his head in understanding. “The book did mention pheromones, it’s what the witches based their love spells on but for it to work properly there would’ve had to be some sort of attraction beforehand. That’s the closest thing they’ve got to any control over anyone other than who they’ve bitten.”

“Only people who were already attracted to them,” Hansel repeated slowly, his eyes flickering to meet Ben’s because he wanted to make sure that the man understood that Hansel hadn’t forced him to do anything. That wasn’t the sort of person he was, not even when he had a monster using his skin as its own personal cage.

Gretel nodded as she tapped her fingers against her knees. “It’s not really an effective mechanism from what I could figure it has more to do with mating than anything else because they can’t control it themselves. The witches claimed that it was a natural expression of attraction, which was why they couldn’t get an accurate reading in order to incorporate it into their potions. They would’ve had to find someone that the wolf already wanted and apparently they had more of a chance of the wolf killing itself than exposing its mate.”

“Wolves mate for life.”

Ben’s soft voice had both of their heads turning towards him and instead of ducking away from the attention Ben met Hansel’s eyes with a knowing look of his own. “Everybody knows that wolves mate for life so it’s understandable that they’d rather die than lose a mate.”

“Know a lot about wolves, do you?” Hansel taunted as he felt his lips curl up into a sneer. He wasn’t sure why but the look that Ben was levelling on him made him feel uncertain, like the ground was shifting beneath his feet and neither he nor the thing in his head liked the sensation.

“We used to get wolves raiding the livestock during winter. I might not be much help with witches but I know wolves,” Ben shot back and for some reason his response had Gretel snorting.

*O*

Hansel hated the silence that came with each night, hated the way that he could hear the others beneath his feet but he was still kept apart from them, even if it was for their safety.

The more Gretel had spoken about wolves the more Hansel began to understand some of his reactions. Wolves weren’t solitary creatures, not like witches, they hunted and lived in packs and right now Hansel felt more like an outcast than a part of the pack.

Ben’s new strange scent didn’t exactly help that either. That paired with the looks that Ben had been sending his way had put Hansel on edge and he wasn’t sure when the next boot would drop but he was sure that he wouldn’t like it.

The fact that Ben hadn’t told Gretel what had been happening was one point in his favour because Hansel couldn’t see her reacting well to his behaviour. Hell, he didn’t want to react well to his own damn behaviour but he couldn’t help himself. Just the scent of Ben’s skin was enough to send Hansel’s mind wheeling as the thing _, the wolf_ , roared to life, with nothing but thoughts of the hunt thrumming through its veins and Hansel wasn’t stupid or naïve enough to pretend he didn’t know that Ben was the prey to his little hunt.

The stairs creaked and Hansel growled, the sound a low husk that rattled from his chest even as his nostrils flared to catch the scent of whoever was moving around down there.

The now familiar scent of old pages and musk, hit him like a sledgehammer a second before Ben stepped into view.

The hunter paused on the stairs, glancing back the way he’d come before he quickly ascended.

Ben’s eyes were almost luminous in the dim light and Hansel turned away from the piercing stare that the man was sending his way.

“It’s not a game, is it?”

Ben’s voice was barely a whisper but Hansel heard it loud and clear over the thundering of the other hunter’s heart.

“What do you think?” he shot back, his tone petulant in a way that had him cringing even as Ben moved closer.

“I thought you were just playing with me. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s tried something like that, of course they weren’t like you and we were kids but it’s the same idea. Pick on the poor orphan, give him a bit of attention and watch how he turns into a simpleton…but that’s not what you’re doing, is it?”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Ben that that was exactly what he was doing but that wasn’t what actually came out his mouth. “Fuck them.”

Ben frowned, “Fuck who?”

“Whoever did that to you. Fuck them, they were hillbillies anyways. Imagine actually tying yourself down to one of them,” he continued, despite the fact that imagining that made him feel sick to his stomach. He couldn’t picture Ben anywhere else other than where he was without wanting to rip something apart. “You’d be stuck in that town with a wife and kids. You’d never get to travel with us or see the things you had,” he carried on, frowning when Ben’s lips ticked up into a smile.

“I’d never have met Gretel or you,” he added and Hansel nodded because that was the important thing here.

“Exactly, you’d probably have been trying to protect your family when we came through, you’d never have had the time to actually harass us with that book of yours.”

Ben’s smile was an all-out grin by the time Hansel wound down his rant and Hansel wrinkled his nose at the scent of what smelt like and _felt_ like sunshine rolling off him.

“I thought Mina was a fluke,” Ben whispered and the name made Hansel frown, he hadn’t been in love with Mina but her sacrifice had carved a place in his heart that still twinged whenever she was mentioned. Ben didn’t notice that though because he was talking again. “You’re really bad at the whole romance thing.”

Hansel reared back, baring his teeth at the other man. “I’m not being romantic,” he spat, watching Ben suspiciously as the man took a step closer.

“You’re not,” Ben agreed, his eyes flickering over Hansel’s face like he was searching for something. “If I try to touch you are you going to bite me?”

Hansel snorted, turning his head away to hide the light-headedness that swept over him as the wolf pawed at his mind. “Don’t know,” he answered honestly and Ben bit his lip before taking another step closer.

Curling the fingers of his left hand around the bar of the cage he reached out with his right and Hansel shivered even as he turned into the fingers pressed against his cheek.

Saliva flooded his mouth as the scent of Ben filled his senses and he barely managed to not pant like a dog when Ben’s fingers flowed downwards, trailing a line from Hansel’s jaw to his lips, where they rested for a moment before Ben pulled back.

“You’re not a monster,” the young hunter whispered then before Hansel could respond he was gone, leaving Hansel gaping after him.

*O*

The next morning Hansel was quiet even as Gretel and Edward let him out of the cage, leading him along a path through the house that was coated on both sides with something that crackled across Hansel’s skin like poison ivy and sent him shying away from the dark lines marring the floor, as they led him to the outhouse and let him wash.

“It’s wolfsbane. It’s meant to be a deterrent but it can be used to keep you trapped as well,” Gretel told him when she caught him staring but instead of pointing out that her actions contradicted her claims that he was safe to be around, Hansel just shrugged. It was a better solution than the silver chains they’d used the first few times.

His silence made Gretel’s eyes narrow in suspicion but Hansel was too caught up in his own thoughts to really focus on his sister’s mood.

Ben’s words were still bouncing around his head.

There was a level of truth and belief to it that had none of the familial ties that Gretel held. Maybe that was why they affected Hansel the way they did or maybe it was because _Ben_ had said it, why he couldn’t get them out of his head.

Snorting, he shook himself, sending water droplets flying across the wash room and Edward grunted at him, something like a smile tugging at the troll’s lips.

“Guess I’m settling into this thing better than I thought, huh, big guy?”

“Safe,” Edward rumbled and Hansel sighed as he stared at him.

“I don’t feel like I’m safe,” he admitted and Edward frowned at him.

“Edward monster, Edward safe…” he tried again and Hansel’s lips pulled into a small smile.

“You saying I can be a monster and still be safe?”

Edward shook his head, his fingers clenching and releasing but there was not scent of aggression coming from him just a wave of frustration.

“People say Edward monster. Edward safe.”

Hansel’s eyes widened, “You’re saying I’m not a monster?”

“Hansel Hansel,” Edward replied and Hansel snorted again.

“I don’t feel like I’m still Hansel,” he responded softly.

Edward reached out and poked a finger at Hansel’s bare chest. “Hansel here,” the finger moved to Hansel’s head. “Hansel here.”

Hansel shrugged, “Maybe,” he conceded but Edward just nodded to himself.

“Hansel safe,” he repeated and despite his words Hansel was grateful that one out of the two of them actually seemed to believe that.

*O*

Hansel retreated to his cot, the second that they locked him back in his cage.

“It’s just until we find your anchor,” Gretel told him as she shut the door and locked it.

Hansel didn’t bother to answer her as he tugged the thin sheet over his head.

His joints felt achy, like they had when he’d hit his first growth spurt and all he wanted to do was sleep.

Not even Ben’s scent was enough to rouse him and let the cadence of Ben and Gretel’s voice lull him as he drifted off.

*O*

He wasn’t sure how long he slept but when he woke there was only a single heartbeat, other than his own, echoing in the silence of the cottage.

Lifting his head, he glanced around the room, sighing when he caught sight of Ben hunched over both books at the table.

The sound must have been louder than he thought because Ben’s head snapped up, dark eyes meeting his own and Hansel exhaled slowly as Ben smiled at him.

A part of him had still believed that what had happened last night had been a dream, an image constructed by his own mind to assuage himself of his guilt but it must have been real because Ben wouldn’t have smiled at him like that if he hadn’t forgiven him for his actions.

“Gretel said you might not be feeling well,” Ben greeted, as he marked his page.

Hansel shrugged, shifting further into the cocoon he’d made of his sheets while keeping his eyes on Ben.

“This wasn’t about last night, was it? Because I was serious about what I said, I don’t blame you as long as it wasn’t a game, and don’t get me wrong, that’s not blanket permission for you to start all _that_ again…” he muttered and Hansel had to chuckle at the blush painting his cheeks.

“All that?” he queried and the look Ben shot him said the younger man knew exactly what he was trying to do and he didn’t appreciate it in the slightest.

“You know what I’m talking about. I’m not going to repeat it,” he shot back and Hansel shifted on the cot until he was perched on his hand and knees. He wasn’t sure if Ben could see what he was doing but the young hunter’s gaze followed him suspiciously.

“I think you mean my seduction and I’m going to try and not be offended by you calling it _that_ ,” Hansel teased.

Ben snorted, “If that’s how you seduce people I’m not surprised that the tavern wenches keep turning you down.”

That drew a bark of laughter from Hansel that was more of an actual canine bark than anything a human should be able to produce.

That seemed to bring Ben’s mind back to the matter at hand.

“Be honest with me, how are you feeling?” he queried and there was such worry in his gaze that Hansel couldn’t bring himself to lie.

“Like I’m being stretched from the inside,” he responded instantly. “It’s quieter in my head but it feels like the calm before the storm.”

“The full moon is the night after tomorrow,” Ben whispered and Hansel shuddered as he arched his spine, trying to get comfortable despite the fact that he felt like he was being forced out of his own skin.

“Like I said, the calm before the storm.”

*O*

A few hours later, Hansel had kicked the sheets from the cot and stripped down to his trousers. It didn’t help much because his body was still covered in a layer of sweat that made him feel like he’d been drenched.

He’d taken to pacing as he listened to Ben throw out titbits that he’d found in the books but Ben’s reading had slowed down a while back and now Hansel was only getting several murmurs that even his ears couldn’t decipher, while Ben buried his face in the books.

“Tell me something,” he demanded as his next pass brought him close enough to the bars that he could almost feel the taint of the silver.

Ben glanced his way before dropping his eyes back to the book but the move wasn’t fast enough for Hansel to not notice the way that the other hunter’s pupils were blown wide open nor the scent that slapped him like an open hand across the face.

Stumbling backwards, he shook his head to clear it.

“What do you want to know?” Ben asked finally, his voice a low gravelly wave that skittered over Hansel’s skin like a lover’s touch.

“Anything,” he snarled, “Distract me.”

Ben swallowed as he shoved the book s to the side.

“When I was seven I got lost in the woods, not the woods around the village you met me in. It was when my mother was still alive, our cottage was like this one but sort of on the outskirts of the village,” Ben explained. “One day, I went exploring and I got lost. That was the first time I ever saw a witch.”

Hansel took a step closer at that because he’d never heard this part of Ben’s childhood. He’d just assumed that Ben had grown fascinated with the idea of hunters because of what he’d read…not that he’d actually met a witch before they came to his village.

“She was digging something out of the ground and what I really remember was how she smelled, like rotten eggs. It made me want to throw up, I think I gagged or something because she stopped what she was doing and she looked right at where I was hiding and all I could remember thinking is that I was going to die, that she was going to find me and eat me, like they used to tell us they did in stories.”

Hansel shuddered because the stories hadn’t been wrong at all. He could still remember the feeling of heat licking at his skin as the witch started the oven she’d meant to cook him in.

“Then someone clamped a hand across my mouth and my mother was there. She had her sickle in her hand and this look on her face…I’d never seen her so scared yet angry before,” he whispered. “The hunters came after that. It took four of them to capture the witch but I’ll never forget that moment when she looked straight at me. I was looking into her eyes and all I could see was evil.”

“You never told us about that,” Hansel pointed out and Ben shrugged as he tugged at his shirt, unbuttoning the top three buttons before pulling it away from his skin.

“Never saw a reason to. You already thought I was the strange kid who was obsessed with you but you still took me in so I figured I’d just keep my mouth shut and learn everything I could,” he responded absentmindedly as he swiped at his face. “Are you hot? Why is it so hot down here?” he murmured, more to himself than Hansel.

Hansel inhaled sharply as Ben finished unbuttoning his shirt and shrugged it off, leaving himself in only his vest.

“I’ve been saying it was hot for the past hour,” he pointed out calmly. He didn’t understand how his voice could sound like that when his gut was twisting itself in knots as Ben yanked at the vest, pulling it from his trousers and treating Hansel to a flash of pale skin just above his waist.

“Yeah, well, you haven’t exactly been trustworthy these past few days,” Ben retorted as he frowned down at his vest like it was offending him and Hansel could understand the feeling because the fact that it was still covering Ben’s chest was offending _him_.

“I’m wounded, you wound me, Ben,” Hansel claimed, licking his lips when Ben met his eyes. “You should make it up to me.”

Ben shot him a confused frown for a second before his expression cleared and he smirked like Hansel couldn’t smell his arousal like a blanket spread throughout the room.

“How’d I do that?”

“Take the vest off,” Hansel suggested immediately and Ben quirked a brow as he stood, his nostrils flaring like he was the one with a strange entity taking up residence beneath his skin.

“You’re pretty forward for a guy who’s supposed to be making up for harassing me these past few days.”

“Come over here and I’ll do more than make it up to you.”

Ben swayed on his feet as he drifted closer. “I should tell you to fuck off,”

“You should,” Hansel agreed despite the fact that that was the last thing he wanted right now, when just the sound of Ben’s voice was like a cool balm on his skin.

“You smell so fucking good,” Ben whispered and Hansel snorted because Ben didn’t know the half of it. Hansel felt like he was drowning in the scent rolling off of Ben’s skin and he never wanted it to stop.

“Tell me what you want, kid. Anything you want, I’ll give it to you,” Hansel promised and Ben was so close now that all he had to do was reach out and he’d be touching Hansel through the bars.

“Nobody’s going to give anyone anything.”

Gretel’s voice was like a whip snapping through the air and Ben stumbled away from the cage as Hansel snarled at his sister who was staring at both of them with a frown on her face.

*O*

“Gretel,” Hansel warned but Gretel didn’t even glance his way. Instead her focus was on Ben.

“Go downstairs,” she ordered.

Ben hesitated, his gaze flickering to Hansel and the second that they met the daze was back, snapping between them like a band and all Hansel wanted was to get Ben to come closer but suddenly Gretel was there between them, breaking their eye contact as Edward lumbered up the stairs.

“Get him out of here,” Gretel directed the troll and Hansel snarled, flinging himself against the bars of the cage when Edward corralled Ben with a single large hand.

The silver seared his skin but Hansel hardly noticed that, couldn’t notice it, not when his entire being was focused on the scent moving further and further away from him.

“Hansel!” Gretel shouted, snapping Hansel from his murderous daze and it was like someone had cut his strings.

Hansel’s legs gave out beneath him, sending him crashing to the floor as the scent of burned flesh finally registered on his mind.

“Hansel?”

Gretel’s voice was more cautious now but Hansel didn’t want to hear anything she had to say. The thing in his head was awake and raging, clawing at the boundaries between what he was and what he could be and the only thing keeping him sane was the lingering scent of Ben’s musk but he couldn’t make himself say that. The words were on his tongue but he couldn’t make them take shape, couldn’t tell Gretel that it felt like she’d reached into his chest and ripped out his heart when she let Edward take Ben.

His logical mind knew that Ben wasn’t truly gone but logic was lost in the face of his instincts.

“Hansel, talk to me,” Gretel pleaded and the sound of her voice slithered into the cracks left by the war raging in Hansel’s head.

Curling in on himself Hansel gritted his teeth as he tried to force them back into a more familiar shape, something that wouldn’t scare Gretel away but the wolf wasn’t giving. It wanted what had been taken and there was nothing that Hansel could do to tame it.

“Fucking look at me!” Gretel snapped and Hansel turned his head, just enough to meet her eyes even as the bones of his face twisted beneath his skin as the wolf shattered what he’d been as it tried to change him into something new.

The look of horror on Gretel’s face said it all and Hansel wondered if she understood it now. He wondered if seeing him like this had finally made it clear to her that he wasn’t the person he’d once been and without the cure he would never be that person again.

The thought was the last one he had before the darkness rushed in and smothered him.

*O*

The cabin was silent when Hansel woke. That was the first thing that registered, not the pain still throbbing through his body, not the blood that caked the floor beneath him…just the utter silence that seemed to press in on him from all sides.

He blinked as he pushed himself to his feet, grimacing at the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth.

The wolf was there; more present than it had ever been and Hansel could almost feel it breathing when he did, seeing what he did. Its presence stretched over his mind, blanketing it in a stillness that Hansel had never achieved on his own.

He knew that Gretel wouldn’t have left him behind, would never give up on him but the wolf didn’t know that. It didn’t understand why it wasn’t part of the pack, why it was caged and kept away and the confusion made it uncertain, the emotion bleeding into Hansel’s psyche even as he tried to incorporate his new state of mind into what he’d been accustomed to before.

There were memories here, memories that weren’t his.

He could remember the thrill of the hunt, the rough sensation of branches beneath his hands as he swung himself into the trees, propelling himself ahead of a prey that could neither see nor smell him.

He remembered the warmth of the pack, the feeling of his brother and sisters pressing in on him from all sides, their fur tangling with his own as he tried to carve out his place amongst them.

Most of all, he remembered the moon. He remembered her siren’s song as she hung low in the sky and he remembered the love that he felt for this being set so far out of his reach yet still such a part of him that he felt like he could reach out and touch her.

It almost rivalled the love he felt for his pack and his mate.

The words came easily to Hansel’s tongue as he whispered them in the silence.

He had no book to read to learn of what he was now but the wolf knew and what the wolf knew, he knew as well.

He knew where to bite to ensure a quick death.

He knew how to blend his howl with those of his pack and how to raise it into an undulating call to signal danger or call for a lost pack-mate.

It was all there, like a new world spread out at his fingertips and Hansel fell to his knees as it unfolded before him.

*O*

The wolf felt it before Hansel did, still lost as he was in the wonders of the things that the wolf was offering him.

It was like a boot to the gut and Hansel jerked sideways, snarling even while his mind registered that _he_ hadn’t been hurt.

Then the scent hit him, like an open palmed slap across the face and Hansel scrambled to his feet as Edward lumbered down the stairs but Hansel only had eyes for the man lying limp in the troll’s arms.

Ben’s face was pale, the only colour coming from the splashes of blood speckling his chin and neck.

Hansel’s mind barely noticed Gretel’s presence until she was suddenly there in front of his cage, her eyes large and lost in a way that Hansel couldn’t remember ever seeing them.

“He wanted to come, he begged me to let him come with us, to let him help,” she choked out but Hansel’s eyes were still on Ben, his mind locked on the overwhelming scent of blood that clung to the man’s skin, almost erasing Ben’s natural scent. “He’s dying, Hansel, but the book said the bite could save him.”

Hansel’s head snapped around then, a snarl on his lips but Gretel didn’t let him say anything.

“Bite him,” she begged.

Hansel clenched his hands into fists as he tried to hide the way he was shaking even as the wolf howled in his head.

Edward stepped forward as Gretel opened the cage and Hansel didn’t even realize he was moving until he was taking Ben’s weight from the troll.

He was so light, his limp limbs lolling as Hansel turned him towards his chest, pressing his face into Ben’s riot of hair as he tried to track the young hunter’s heart but it was so weak that Hansel could barely hear it beneath the hammering of his own heart in his chest.

“Sorry,”

The sound of Ben’s voice made Hansel jerk which yanked a hiss from the injured man.

Ben’s hand came up to press against his stomach where the scent of blood seemed to be originating from.

“Fucked up,” Ben muttered as his other hand tried to grasp Hansel’s arms but his fingers barely managed to curl around Hansel’s bicep.

“Shut up, you’re going to be fine,” Hansel managed to choke out and Ben snorted softly.

“Gutted…it _hurts_ ,” he whispered and Hansel licked his lips as he moved them to his cot.

Blanketing Ben’s body with his own Hansel glanced at Gretel as he raised Ben’s injured hand to his lips but the feeling of Ben’s other hand pressing weakly against his cheek dragged his attention back to the man beneath him.

“Thank you,” Ben forced out and Hansel could hear death rattling behind his words and then the wolf was there, forcing itself to the fore as Hansel sunk his teeth in Ben’s wrist.

*O*

Ben’s heartbeat tripled, sending Hansel wheeling away as it thundered in his ear.

Ben wasn’t supposed to be afraid, not of him, not of _them_.

Behind him he could hear someone else, other members of his pack perhaps but his mind was locked on Ben.

Whining softly, he pawed at the sheets of the cot.

When Ben didn’t react he slid closer, draping his body over the younger man’s, careful to avoid the place where the scent of Ben’s pain seemed to radiate from as he curled himself around Ben so that he was hidden between Hansel’s body and the wall.

The sounds from outside the cell died away as Ben’s heart slowed into a familiar rhythm and Hansel rumbled in his chest as Ben’s scent changed, deepening into something that was as wild as the wolf awakening beneath his skin.

*O*

Hansel had fallen out of bed enough times to say for certain that it wasn’t a pleasant experience. An even less pleasant experience was getting kicked out of bed, his mind supplied helpfully, seconds before he hit the floor hard enough to rattle his bones.

He was up in an instant, a snarl clawing its way from his throat as he rounded on the person who’d thought that pissing him off was a good idea, only to find wide brown eyes watching him warily as Ben pressed himself against the wall.

Hansel stilled when he realized that Ben was shaking.

“You, okay?” he asked, keeping his voice soft.

Ben shook his head as one hand clutched at his bloody shirt just above where the witches had gotten him. “Th-there’s something in my head,” Ben stuttered out and Hansel nodded even as his own wolf pawed at his mind.

“Yeah, that’d be tall, dark and ugly. It was the only way to save you and why the hell did you think it was a good idea to go out on that hunt? You were too invested!”

Ben twitched, his body jerking like he wanted to melt into the wall and Hansel frowned at him before he remembered how loud everything had been when the wolf first settled into his head.

Holding up his hands in supplication, he stood and Ben’s eyes tracked his every move.

“It’s strange, I know. Everything’s too loud, right now and you can smell things you couldn’t before, can probably taste the air itself but here’s what you’re going to do. You’re gonna stay calm…”

Ben shook his head again, “I can’t smell everything…well I think I can but it’s all sort of fuzzy but I can smell you though. It’s….it’s everywhere, on my skin, on the walls, everything smells like you and I…”

“You know, I’d like to see the two of you together without wanting to gouge my own eyes and ears out for once,” Gretel commented dryly and Hansel had heard her coming so he didn’t react.

The same couldn’t be said for Ben who snarled as he scrabbled backwards, almost sending himself over the edge of the cot.

Hansel cocked a brow and watched as Ben frowned, his fingers flying to his own throat in wonder as he blinked at them, “Was that me?”

“It was either you or the other pet wolf you and Hansel have been hiding in that cage,” Gretel commented lightly and Hansel was grateful that she hadn’t called Ben on his slip. He remembered clearly how he’d been at the beginning of all this, before the wolf had fully integrated itself, thankfully Ben seemed to be a lot less aggressive, if a bit more skittish.

“How are you feeling?” Gretel asked and Hansel could smell her concern _and_ her guilt.

“Like a witch tried to run me through with a silver sword,” Ben responded with a little snort. “I still think she must have been blind because there’s no way I look like anything other than a regular non-magical human.”

“You still look like a regular non-magical human,” Gretel pointed out and Ben frowned before his gaze flittered to Hansel.

“Oh, I do, don’t I?”

“You look as scrawny as ever,” Hansel responded glibly, as he let his gaze flicker over him, and Ben glowered at him.

“Thanks,” he muttered but Hansel just grinned because Ben’s amusement was like a red flag being waved between them and maybe this was what Hansel had been missing at the beginning. The wolf had known that the others were part of the pack but none of them had been a wolf. It was probably what had set him on edge because Ben seemed to have none of the aggression that Hansel had displayed before or after the first change…at least the bits that he could remember.

“I feel better, better than I did before, I mean. Like that place in my back that always hurts…”

“Because you’re always hunched over like an old crone,” Hansel added in helpfully but Ben just scowled at him as he continued.

“…It doesn’t hurt anymore and my knee, the one I twisted a few weeks back, that doesn’t ache either.” Lifting up his shirt Ben treated them to a look at his unmarked stomach, if it wasn’t for the blood staining the area Hansel would never have been able to guess that Ben had been injured.

The young hunter poked at the spot, with gentle fingers before pressing harder when the wound didn’t magically reappear.

“Look at it,” Ben grinned, “The wounds gone, completely gone.”

“It nearly killed you,” Hansel gritted out because Ben’s wonder wasn’t enough to dampen the memory of Ben lying limp in his arms, the scent of death and pain clinging to his skin.

“But it didn’t,” Ben pointed out, his nostrils flaring as he slipped from the bed, stepping into Hansel’s personal space and even with Gretel watching them, Hansel let him.

He didn’t pull back when Ben pressed his nose against his the place where his jaw met his ear. He didn’t move away because this felt natural, like an apology written in the poetry of motion and the wolf was a rumbling mass in the back of his head, telling Hansel that this was right, this was their way.

Gretel cleared her throat, making Ben flinch back. “You’re not attacking each other,” she pointed out and Hansel frowned because he’d never been aware that had been a concern.

“He’s pack,” he responded and Gretel cocked her head.

“Well if you’re not going to attack him you should be able to leave the….”

“No!” Hansel shouted, startling all three of them with the vehemence in his voice. “That’s not safe, not until after his first full moon,” he explained and the wolf whined as it pawed at the images of its brethren being tied down to keep from hurting themselves and each other. “The first moon is important…” Hansel continued, “It doesn’t know why but you never run with the pack on your first moon.”

“It?” Gretel frowned and Hansel nodded, gesturing to his head.

“I’ve got a boarder in my head who knows a lot more about this shit than we do,” he explained, meeting Grete’s eyes steadily despite the fact that her uncertainty burned his nose and made him want to shy away.

“Does _it_ know why you went after Ben in the first place?”

“Because he’s mine!”

The words came out as a snarl despite the fact that Hansel hadn’t meant for them to.

Shaking his head he glanced over at Ben who was watching him calmly…at least calmer than Gretel was.

“You and Edward, you smell like pack but Ben smelt like he was supposed to be mine but he wasn’t because he wasn’t marked and it…” Hansel paused, clenching his teeth as the wolf’s initial confusion flooded his mind along with its distress. “If he wasn’t marked then anyone could take him back but he ran from me and this thing…it didn’t understand why so we hunted all of you because he’s mine, he’s always been mine,” he finished on a whisper, still holding Ben’s eyes.

Ben’s nose flared once but he didn’t object and Hansel turned his attention back to Gretel.

“I wasn’t going to hurt him,” he swore and Gretel cocked her head but there was no disbelief in her scent.

“He’s your anchor,” she guessed and Hansel shrugged because the wolf didn’t have a word for what Ben was other than mate and that was good enough for Hansel. “What about you, Ben? What do I smell like to you?”

Hansel shifted as Ben took a step closer to the bars, eyes locked on Gretel as he cocked his head and inhaled slowly, eyes falling close while his tongue flickered out like he was trying to taste the smell.

“You smell like my books, like something warm…” he paused, brows furrowing. “…like something right,” he finished, glancing up at Hansel who nodded at him because Ben’s books were one of the only important things that the man had left and Hansel had often wondered who’d given them to Ben.

Stepping closer, Hansel tangled his fingers in Ben’s hair, following the instincts he still wasn’t sure of but ones that he didn’t think he could fight anymore and the way that Ben slumped into the touch said that he’d done the right thing.

Glancing back at Gretel, Hansel cocked his head, listening to the steady beat of her heart before he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

“After the full moon we’ll see what happens,” he whispered and Gretel’s lips pursed like she wanted to argue but a low rumble from Ben curtailed her words.

Glancing between the two of them she finally nodded and Hansel returned the gesture before tugging Ben away from the silver bars of their cage.

They had a few hours until the next full moon…they’d figure out what would happen after that.

*O*

Hansel had shared beds with Ben before so he was used the way that Ben seemed incapable of staying on his side of the mattress. The fact that the cot wasn’t exactly the biggest out there, didn’t help matters especially not when every whiff of Ben’s scent had the wolf clawing at the fragile barrier that kept it separate from most of Hansel’s mind.

Ben shifted in his sleep, his spine curving as he stretched before flinging a leg across Hansel’s and the older hunter held his breath until Ben settled down again.

Hansel didn’t know how Ben could sleep, not now when Hansel could feel something on his skin like there were eyes watching him from the shadows that littered the attic despite the fact that Hansel knew that they were the only two people in the room.

Rolling onto his side Hansel glanced at Ben.

The younger man was curled in on himself, his fingers gripping the sheets as he twitched in his sleep and Hansel took the chance to bury his nose in Ben’s soft hair, inhaling deeply until he almost felt drunk on Ben’s scent.

Ben snuffled in his sleep, moving closer until he could tangle a hand in Hansel’s shirt and it wasn’t until Ben settled with his head under Hansel’s chin that the tension, from before, bled from Hansel’s frame.

The wolf rumbled in pleasure and Hansel copied the sound, grinning to himself when Ben mimicked him, his voice a low counterpoint to Hansel’s own.

He’d been serious about all the things he’d said. He wanted to see Ben laid out under him, begging for him but he wasn’t sure if Ben was ready for that yet and Hansel could wait…he’d waited this long and as far as the wolf was concerned Ben wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Running his free hand down Ben’s spine, Hansel slowed his breathing until it matched the younger hunter’s and it was only then that he let sleep pull him under.

*O*

Gretel nodded to Edward as she dragged the heavy chair across the attic floor. Glancing at the two men tangled together on the small cot, she bit her lip.

The book had said the transformation started the moment the moon climbed into the sky and Gretel knew that meant there was only a few minutes left….

The thought had barely solidified when Hansel jerked upright with a muted snarl, his eyes darting around the room until they settled on hers.

“Gretel, no,” he whispered but she just gritted her jaw and raised her head because she’d be damned if she was going to shy away from this.

They’d shared every misfortune together and she wasn’t going to back off now.

“I’m staying,” she responded to Hansel’s unspoken plea.

“Gretel,” Hansel tried again but Gretel just firmed her shoulders.

“I’m staying,” she repeated, keeping her voice firm.

Hansel looked like he was about to protest but then his entire body lurched to the side and the look he sent her way was so terrified that it was all she could do to keep herself seated because every instinct was screaming at her to go to him but she couldn’t save Hansel from this.

On the bed, Ben made a whimpering sound in his sleep and Hansel answered it. The noise that fled his throat was reedy and high like a dog that had been kicked.

Hansel stumbled towards the cot as Ben’s eyes flickered open, his gaze wild while he stared at the ceiling.

Gretel and Edward watched in silence, while Hansel pulled the younger hunter upright, sliding himself around Ben’s body until he was between the other man and the wall.

A second later when Ben’s head snapped back hard enough to crack against his shoulder, Gretel understood why he’d done it.

“Remember that game we used to play in the woods?”

Hansel’s voice was a low murmur but Gretel nodded as his gaze met hers again.

“You always cheated, you never counted to ten.”

Hansel opened his mouth to answer but before he could form the words he gagged and when he turned his head and spat Gretel’s eyes dropped to the single bloody tooth that hit the floor.

When she glanced back at Hansel he was watching her with bloodshot eyes and she could see the way that he was fighting the tremors wracking Ben’s body.

“Le-let’s play it again,” Hansel whispered, holding her eyes as tangled his fingers with Ben’s and it was only then that Gretel realized that the younger hunter had been clawing at his own skin, painting it in bloody patches.

“Close your eyes and count to ten,” Hansel continued as Ben’s body arched in his arms.

“Hansel, I…”

“Just fucking do it!” Hansel snarled, the wolf bleeding through into his voice but it was the tears in his eyes that broke Gretel’s resolve because Hansel never cried…not for himself. “Just close your eyes and count to ten,” Hansel whispered again and Gretel nodded, swallowing to shift the lump in her throat.

Exhaling slowly she closed her eyes.

“One.”

Someone screamed and Gretel gritted her teeth but she kept her eyes closed even as something heavy hit the floor.

“Two.”

“Come on, breathe, kid. Listen to Gretel’s voice...block everything else out just listen…”

Gretel clenched her fingers into fists. “Three.”

There was a gagging sound and the thick scent of blood in the air.

“Four.”

Edward rumbled in warning but Gretel clenched her eyes shut as she heard something crack.

“Five.”

It wasn’t even a whisper anymore; she was shouting it to block out the whimpers.

“Six.”

It was so quiet now, the only sound that Gretel could hear was her own heart.

“Seven.”

Hansel had always cheated and neither of them had ever gotten to ten…he knew that.

“Eight….”

Gretel opened her eyes and swallowed the bile that clawed at her throat as one of the creatures glanced up at her, a thick piece of skin clinging to its snout while the other paced in the shadows of the cell.

“Nine.”

She didn’t even realize that she was on her feet until both of them stilled.

“Ten,” she finished, reaching for the lock. “Ready or not, here I come.”

*O*

Gretel was getting sick of Grand Witches. In all honesty, Gretel had been sick of Grand Witches the second that she knew what one was but staring at this one who’d decided to slaughter an entire village worth of children to satisfy her hunger, Gretel could most assuredly say that she was sick of all Grand Witches.

“The little witch hunter,” the woman purred, “Don’t you know better than to hunt our kind at night with nothing but a troll as help.”

Gretel bared her teeth at the woman and maybe she’d been picking up more of Hansel’s bad habits than she’d realized because that was definitely one of his…Ben was much more careful with his teeth.

“Who says that Edward’s my only help?” Gretel taunted, smirking when the witch’s eyes dropped to the two figures that emerged from the darkness.

The woman sneered, “You bring dogs to do your dirty work?”

Gretel’s lips spread into a grin as the moon glinted overhead. She didn’t have to look to know what was happening behind her, but the horror on the witch’s face said it all, as the slick sounds of Hansel and Ben’s change rang out through the quiet of the night.

A second later the two towering figures flanked her and Gretel glanced at the darker of the two who she knew was her brother.

Hansel’s ears swivelled forward as Gretel patted him on the chest before reaching out to trail a hand through the fur at Ben’s nape as the younger hunter bared his teeth at the witch.

“Meet the help,” Gretel whispered a second before the witch screamed and fled as Hansel lunged at her with Ben at his heels.

Resting her gun against her shoulder Gretel glanced at Edward. “Looks like we’re the help this time around.”

Edward just shrugged as he lumbered forward and Gretel followed him, the sounds of howls and screams leading their way.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for Bad Moon Rising](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3771679) by [seraphina_snape](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seraphina_snape/pseuds/seraphina_snape)




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